Our honeymoon started the day after the wedding. Yes - it was a Sunday. We got up about noon with the maid knocking on the motel room door. We got up, showered, and went to Jane's house to load up an ice chest with food and to pick up our luggage for the honeymoon. The plan was to drive a few hours each day up the coast until five days later we arrive at San Francisco. We drove my 1967 Ford Mustang (that I bought from Holly after my mission when she left to go to BYU). I recall hitting the road around 2:00pm, and I drove for about 45 minutes or an hour and was so tired that I pulled over and let Jane drive. We were travelling north on coast highway 101. I immediately fell asleep and woke up about two hours later with Jane just cruising along. Our first night's destination was the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. I don't remember dinner, I just remember getting there and we checked into the "Old Fashion Room". Each room is exotically decorated. My favorite part of the room was that you flushed the toilet by pulling a little porcelin knob in the top of the tank. I don't recall where we ate, but I do remember crashing pretty early. We had reservations for two nights in that room, but people switch all the time, so the next night we stayed in a different room (but I can't remember which).
The next day we drove up the coast to San Simeon and Hearst Castle, and took the tour there. We walked on the beach where my family had camped years before, and then drove back to the Madonna Inn.
On Tuesday, we left San Luis Obispo and drive on the Pacific Coast Highway 1. We stopped at Big Sur and hiked among the giant redwoods there. All that time I had been taking pictures with my dad's borrowed Minolta camera, and somewhere near Big Sur I used up all the film but the camera wouldn't rewind. We stopped at a wide shoulder of the road to see if I could fix it because we were in such beautiful scenary. After a long argument I convinced Jane to lock me in the truck of the car so I could open the camera safely without exposing the film and I would rewind it back into its cassete. Jane was worried that if she put me in the truck someone would come along at just that moment and kidnap her. I finally convinced her to lock me in and once I had the camera open I discovered that there was no film in the camera and that we had only pretended to take pictures of our honeymoon. So that is why we don't have any pictures from that week!
Continuing on from Big Sur we drove until we arrived at our next destination; a Best Western motel in Santa Cruz. This was the night that Jane had her first tears of our married life (other than when we were married). The reason was that our room only had a shower; no bathtub, and after a long day of driving she had her heart set on a hot bath, but to no avail.
The next day we drove to San Franciso. On the way, we stopped at the Oakland Temple, and decided to do a session. This was Jane's second time in the temple. You have to remember that Jane looked all of sixteen years old and I looked 18, so of course they asked us to be the witness couple. What was interesting about the endowment room that we were in was that there was no center aisle at that time. It was kind of like a nice auditorium, and the men and women kind of met in the middle, so Jane and I got to sit next next to each other and hold hands during the session. There wasn't many other couples in the session so most did sit together along in the center. I wonder if they still do that there?
I don't remember what hotel we stayed at in San Franciso, but we had a corner suite with solid windows on two wall and we were on the 24th floor with this amazing view of the city. Jane also got her bathtub there. The next day we walked around Fisherman's Wharf and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, and then took off in rush hour traffic for home. It was a long drive and I remember stopping somewhere in the middle of nowhere to fiddle with the car engine; but I can't remember why now. We arrived at our apartment at about midnight, and John and Pearl had brought all of our wedding gifts to the apartment and had somehow found some linens and had made our bed (thank-you, thank-you!). I remember that we had brand-new pillows that were too plump and I didn't sleep well with them for about six months.
The next day we drove up the coast to San Simeon and Hearst Castle, and took the tour there. We walked on the beach where my family had camped years before, and then drove back to the Madonna Inn.
On Tuesday, we left San Luis Obispo and drive on the Pacific Coast Highway 1. We stopped at Big Sur and hiked among the giant redwoods there. All that time I had been taking pictures with my dad's borrowed Minolta camera, and somewhere near Big Sur I used up all the film but the camera wouldn't rewind. We stopped at a wide shoulder of the road to see if I could fix it because we were in such beautiful scenary. After a long argument I convinced Jane to lock me in the truck of the car so I could open the camera safely without exposing the film and I would rewind it back into its cassete. Jane was worried that if she put me in the truck someone would come along at just that moment and kidnap her. I finally convinced her to lock me in and once I had the camera open I discovered that there was no film in the camera and that we had only pretended to take pictures of our honeymoon. So that is why we don't have any pictures from that week!
Continuing on from Big Sur we drove until we arrived at our next destination; a Best Western motel in Santa Cruz. This was the night that Jane had her first tears of our married life (other than when we were married). The reason was that our room only had a shower; no bathtub, and after a long day of driving she had her heart set on a hot bath, but to no avail.
The next day we drove to San Franciso. On the way, we stopped at the Oakland Temple, and decided to do a session. This was Jane's second time in the temple. You have to remember that Jane looked all of sixteen years old and I looked 18, so of course they asked us to be the witness couple. What was interesting about the endowment room that we were in was that there was no center aisle at that time. It was kind of like a nice auditorium, and the men and women kind of met in the middle, so Jane and I got to sit next next to each other and hold hands during the session. There wasn't many other couples in the session so most did sit together along in the center. I wonder if they still do that there?
I don't remember what hotel we stayed at in San Franciso, but we had a corner suite with solid windows on two wall and we were on the 24th floor with this amazing view of the city. Jane also got her bathtub there. The next day we walked around Fisherman's Wharf and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, and then took off in rush hour traffic for home. It was a long drive and I remember stopping somewhere in the middle of nowhere to fiddle with the car engine; but I can't remember why now. We arrived at our apartment at about midnight, and John and Pearl had brought all of our wedding gifts to the apartment and had somehow found some linens and had made our bed (thank-you, thank-you!). I remember that we had brand-new pillows that were too plump and I didn't sleep well with them for about six months.
2 comments:
That's a great story. I'm grateful for digital cameras.
Happy 30th Anniversary. We just celebrated our.....34. Our anniversary always gets swallowed up in Christmas, but THIS year we're going to Hawaii. [Well, it's ok to dream and plan, anyway]
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